Real Brownfields Deserve Dollars I
read with interest the story on Brownfield development dollars in the
July 20 issue. I applaud Dan Lathrop and other county commissioners who
voted “No” on the Randolph Street project...

Hopping Mad Carlin
Smith is hopping mad (“Will You Get Mad With Me?” 7-20-15). Somebody
filed a fraudulent return using his identity, and he’s not alone. The AP
estimates the government “pays more than $5 billion annually in
fraudulent tax refunds.” Well, many of us have been
hopping mad for years. This is because the number one tool Congress has
used to fix this problem has been to cut the IRS budget –by $1.2 billion
in the last 5 years...

Just Grumbling, No Solutions Mark
Pontoni’s grumblings [recent Northern Express column] tell us much
about him and virtually nothing about those he chooses to denigrate. We
do learn that Pontoni may be the perfect political candidate. He’s
arrogant, opinionated and obviously dimwitted...

A Racist Symbol I
have to respond to Gordon Lee Dean’s letter claiming that the
confederate battle flag is just a symbol of southern heritage and should
not be banned from state displays. The heritage it represents was the
treasonous effort to continue slavery by seceding from a democratic
nation unwilling to maintain such a consummate evil...

Not So Thanks I
would like to thank the individual who ran into and knocked over my
Triumph motorcycle while it was parked at Lowe’s in TC on Friday the
24th. The $3,000 worth of damage was greatly appreciated. The big dent
in the gas tank under the completely destroyed chrome badge was an
especially nice touch...

CAFO Farmers

CAFO farmers: Our cattle are healthierLast week, Northern Express wrote about a confined animal feedingoperation in Mesick. Here, two owners of CAFOs in Alpena and MountPleasant talk about their operations and their value to society.

Confined dairy cows are healthier animals.So says Corby Werth, a dairy farmer with 185 cows in Alpena, and JerryNeyer in Mount Pleasant with 1,000 dairy cattle. They say that confinedanimal feeding operations (CAFOs) is a term used for regulatory purposes,but that CAFOS in Michigan are generally owned by families who have beenfarming for generations and take pride in their work. Thats in contrastto mega-dairies out west, where the largest dairy CAFO in Oregon holds55,000 milk cows.Werth and Neyer agreed to explain the operations of a dairy CAFO to theExpress, hoping to shed light on the operations.Both farmers keep their cattle sheltered from the elements in a facilitywith curtains they raise or lower to let in sunshine or block the blusterof wind and snow. The farmers make it a point to give the cows enough roomto move around and to lie down, in part, because cramming cows into tightquarters stresses them out, which can lead to illness, udder infections,and lower profits, Neyer said.Some guys will do it (pack them in), but most of us dont do it or verymuch at all. If they dont have a comfortable place to lay down, theywont get the rate of gain as fast as they want. Not only will the cowsuffer, but so will the producer.

CLEANER SITUATIONAlthough dairy cattle in their CAFOs dont get to walk around in a sunnypasture, they are healthier, eat a more balanced diet with nutrientsupplements, and are less likely to be caked with mud or manure, whichmeans cleaner milk for the consumer, Neyer said.A dairy cow begins her working life at the age of two, beginning withartificial insemination, which is actually less dangerous for both the cowand farm workers, Werth said.A bull in the pen, they are big and not exactly easy on animals.Sometimes they can kill the cow, said Werth, whose grandpa was killed bya bull.As for those who are concerned about bovine growth hormone that increasesmilk production, Werth and Neyer are among virtually all dairy farmers inthe state who have voluntarily pledged not to use it. But neither farmerbelieves its really harmful to humans. Its a hormone thats naturallyoccurring in a cow, and it was an extra amount we gave to them when theirhormone levels naturally dipped lower in the cycle. I considered itgreener because youre making more milk with less animal, Werth said.Once the calf is born, its removed from the mother and bottle fed withpowdered milk. The calf must be separated in order for the mother to becommercially milked, the farmers explained.What happens to the calves on our farm is they are kept with other calvesin an individual pen, bedded with the straw. They are kept with the motherfor an hour, and shes able to lick it off. Werth said. The big reasonwe do that is for the safety of the calf. The cows, when they get up andgoing, the calf automatically wants to nurse. So its for the safety ofthe animal, the cow knocking the calf down, stepping on the calf. Thatswhy we remove it.

TWICE A DAYMale calves are typically sold to a beef farm, while the females are keptto later provide milk. Farmers milk the cows twice a day in a mechanizedmilking parlorusually producing about 6 to 10 gallons a day per cow,about two and half times the amount of milk as they did in the 1950s.Females have a nine-month gestation and are kept pregnant most of theirlives in order to keep milk production going. On average, they give birthto a calf once a year. Once they stop producing milk, they are normallyslaughtered and sold for beef. If antibiotics are given to the animal inthe case of illness, they cannot be slaughtered or sold until 30 daysafterward to ensure the medicine has been flushed out of the cows system.Like all dairy farmers, Werth and Neyer said they dont routinelyadminister antibiotics, only doing so when an animal is sick. (Incontrast, beef cattle and pigs are routinely administered low levels ofantibiotics daily at most CAFOs in order to promote growth.)Critics believe its cruel to keep a cow nearly constantly pregnant andmilking. But Neyer doesnt agree.Natures that way, out there in the wild, Neyer said, adding that deerhave fawns once a year. Your pets would do that all the time if youdidnt get them neutered or spayed. Its a natural thing. Its notunnatural to have a calf every year.

MANURE MIXCritics contend that this style of intensive milking leads to a shorterlife span for the cow, averaging two to seven years. Organizations, likethe Sierra Club Michigan Chapter also have qualms with the potentialenvironmental impact of dairy CAFOs, such as manure spillovers togroundwater, rivers, streams, drinking wells, land, and air--the stench ofthe larger CAFOs is often very nasty and can burn nostrils and raise havocwith asthma sufferers.CAFO manure is typically used to fertilize the fields of corn and hay,which is fed to the cattle. Although this is a long-time and traditionalfarm practice, the amount of manure from larger CAFOs is vast and thenutrient load can overwhelm available fields. Manure from a CAFO is oftena brew of growth hormones, antibiotics,and chemicals used to clean thefacilities. The manure can also contain dangerous pathogens, such ase-coli, according to the website of the Sierra Club Michigan Chapter, thestates most active CAFO opponent.Dairy cow manure may also contain birthing fluids and blood, milkhousewastes, and copper sulfate thats used in the footbaths for cows beforethey are led into the milking parlor.Werth, who has had no environmental problems, said they scrape the manureinto a lagoon, which has a solid cement floor with plastic side walls.Its completely contained like a swimming pool. We irrigate it into thefields for nutrients, he said. There is no chance of contaminationwhatsoever.Phil Durst, a Michigan State University extension agent in Mio, saidorganic wastes such as placentas pose no concern since they are naturallybroken down by bacteria. Copper and sulfurthe two elements in coppersulfateoccur in soil and dont create a problem that hes aware of. Hebelieves the excretion of growth hormones or antibiotics are in amountstoo small to be of concern, although neither is tested in manure beforeapplication.The biggest threat to the environment is to overload fields with manure.Too much nitrogen and phosphorous will contaminate groundwater. Therefore,the manure is analyzed for the content of both elements before itsapplied to fields, Durst said.Its really important to manage manure and nutrients well. I find thatfarmers are conscious of that, he said.